Putian and Xianyou, two counties under the jurisdiction of Putian City, belonged to Xinghua in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, so they were customarily called Xinghua only. The custom of Xinghua people is that from the first day of the first lunar month, relatives and friends visit each other at home, which is called "Happy New Year" and say some auspicious words. This custom is the same in China. However, in Xinghua, the custom of "Laoqu" pasting "Spring Festival couplets with white forehead" is still followed-"Laoqu" Mingjiajing 411. During this period, the Japanese invaders invaded Xinghua, killing and plundering, and did not retreat until the end of the following year. The city is full of corpses, which is terrible. On the second day of the second lunar month, people who went out to take refuge came back one after another with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, both for the living and the dead. At this time, relatives and friends are anxious to visit each other first, then dry their tears, celebrate the Spring Festival, make up for their old age and celebrate their recovery. Since none of them had a new year's day, they decided to make it up on the evening of the fourth day. In order to commemorate that painful history, people will get together on New Year's Eve. The fourth day of the first month is called "New Year's Eve", which is also called "New Year's Eve" (Xianyou is the "New Year's Eve" on the fifth day). And take the second day of the first month as "worship day", which means not to visit each other to show their condolences to their dead relatives. Later, because I thought it was inconvenient to visit each other during the Spring Festival, I changed it to the first day. If I visited my relatives and friends, I wouldn't have to be taboo on the second day. "White Spring Festival couplets" Spring Festival couplets all over the country are red, but Xinghua Spring Festival couplets have a two-inch long white couplet, which is particularly eye-catching. According to legend, after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, they implemented a high-handed policy and killed innocent people. Many people put up white couplets for the funeral. It was the Spring Festival, and the Qing court forced every household to stick red couplets to decorate "the country is peaceful and the people are safe". When someone posted a red couplet, he deliberately exposed a small piece of white couplet on the door to show his grief. The custom of "White-fronted Spring Festival couplets" has been passed down to this day. After the 25th of the twelfth lunar month, adults should specifically instruct their children not to swear outside, let alone fight with others, and adults should not beat and scold their children. In order to make the new year lively and prosperous, every household in Pupu and Xianmin, especially in rural areas, should prepare "red jiaozi" (the dough is wrapped with mung beans, and the dough is also attached with edible red pigment, hence the name), "sweet potato" (mashed with cooked sweet potatoes and steamed with rice paste and brown sugar), white cakes, fried scallion cakes, fried tofu and fried ribs. ), for the purpose of offering sacrifices to heaven, earth, gods and ancestors. On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, firecrackers exploded in the countryside. There is an altar in front of each yard with a table skirt embroidered with gold thread. On the table are five fruits, six fasting, three sacrifices and the main lines with red paper flowers for blessing, fortune and longevity. The whole family, led by the old man, burned incense and worshipped the world in turn, and set off firecrackers in front of the altar. Then the altar retreated, put on the same set of offerings, bowed down to the ancestors and wished the whole family peace and happiness in the coming year. Then, in front of the altar, silver offerings, silver paper and firecrackers were burned again, indicating the end of the old year. At noon on New Year's Eve, every household should eat "rubbing powder" (a kind of food mixed with sweet potato powder, noodles, fried tofu, shredded pork and vegetables, which means quitting the unhappy life of soup and water in the past). At the beginning of New Year's Eve, a pair of red lanterns are hung on the door of every household, with the owner's surname written on them. The hall is brightly lit, and the whole family gets together and enjoys family happiness. In rural areas, it is also necessary to put charcoal under the stove and dining table to show that the family loves each other and the people are prosperous. When Putian and Xianyou surround the furnace, the dishes on the table are well-regulated. Most of them have auspicious meanings and are very rich. There must be crucian carp (commonly known as the mother of crucian carp, homophonic for "Jubao"), shrimp (homophonic for "harmony", meaning family harmony and making money), crab (choose ten feet, meaning perfection), oyster (homophonic for "Zheng", meaning the family will still be in this world next year) and other dishes. There are still a few live fish in the kitchen jar, which means it has been more than a year. People in Putian and Xianyou attach great importance to family ties, so they must do everything possible to get home and reunite with their families during the New Year. If a relative really can't go home for the New Year, they must put a pair of chopsticks on the dining table to save a place for him. After the furnace, the elders will give lucky money to unmarried men and women under 16. There are also children who give their parents and grandparents lucky money; The husband gave the unemployed wife lucky money. Willingness to share lucky money in the New Year: First, love for the younger generation, respect for the elders, and love for the wife. The second is to suppress the old, which is homophonic "suppressing the special", that is, the meaning of exorcism. New Year's Eve, Putian, Xianyou and the custom of keeping the old age. In the old society, some poor people went to the Chenghuang Temple to see a play on New Year's Eve in order to escape their debts, so that creditors were afraid to collect debts in front of me. Most people just sit together and talk about things. On New Year's Eve, the lights must be on until dawn. It is impossible to tell whether the mice will go back to their parents' home, which will destroy their good mood, affect their development and fertility, and reduce the harm to farmers. After eating their New Year's Eve dinner, the city people have to go to their close relatives and friends' homes for a drink to show their hearts. Like other places, Putian people like to be popular, so they naturally inherited the custom of posting Spring Festival couplets in China. But the Spring Festival couplets of Putian people are different from those of other places. Spring Festival couplets all over the country are red, but the forehead of Putian Spring Festival couplets is white, red and white, which is particularly eye-catching. According to legend, after the Qing soldiers entered the customs, they implemented a high-handed policy and killed innocent people. Many people put up white couplets for the funeral. It was the Spring Festival, and the Qing court forced every household to paste red couplets to whitewash the peace. When people paste red couplets, they will deliberately display a small piece of white couplets on the door to show their sadness. Each family took effect and became the "White Spring Festival couplets". For example, it has been circulated ever since. Putian people "surround the kitchen" on New Year's Eve (Putian people call eating New Year's Eve "surrounding the kitchen") and start a spring outing on the first day of junior high school (Putian people are used to calling spring outing "spring outing" and "hen" and "sow" as "mother hen" and "mother pig"). In other parts of China, the second day is usually a good day to visit relatives and friends, but it is different in Putian. This day is just not suitable for going out. This custom originated from the Japanese invasion of Xinghua (formerly known as Puxian area) in Jiajing, Ming Dynasty, and many people were killed in both places. After Qi Jiajun defeated the Japanese invaders, people who went out to take refuge went home to visit relatives. Everyone has mixed feelings of sadness and joy. They are happy for the survival of the living and sad for the misfortune of the dead. On the day of the second day, many families are busy taking care of the dead, and all the people who come to visit are mourners, so it is unlucky to visit on the second day. Later, this day was designated as "offering sacrifices to the dead". Every year, we don't pay New Year greetings to each other on this day, even our closest relatives are no exception. Only the mourning house allows friends to come to the door to express their condolences to their dead relatives. Later, because I thought it was inconvenient not to visit each other during the Spring Festival, I changed it to the first day. If I had already visited a friend's house to celebrate the New Year, I wouldn't have to be taboo on the second day. You can visit everywhere freely in the third grade. The fourth day in Putian is very different from other places. Putian people also celebrate the New Year on the fourth day, which means repeating the New Year. The fourth day will be as lively and grand as the New Year's Eve. This custom originated in the forty-first year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. The Japanese invaded Putian and plundered it everywhere. It was not until the first day of the first month of the following year that it was defeated by Qi Jiajun that it returned. Since everyone has taken refuge in other places and can't celebrate the New Year, we decided to make it up on the evening of the fourth day. In order to commemorate this painful history, people get together on New Year's Eve. The fourth day of the first month is called "New Year's Eve", also known as "New Year's Eve" (Xianyou is the fifth day of the New Year's Eve). On the fifth day, we also spent it as the first day. Like the first day, breakfast is fried noodles, which is the most delicious breakfast in a year, and then we visit each other. There is also the most important link in the Spring Festival, that is, the Lantern Festival. Every village will be different when Putian people celebrate the Lantern Festival. As early as the sixth day, the Lantern Festival began, and then it ran to the end of the month. Nowadays, it is getting easier and easier to celebrate Lantern Festival in some places in Putian, that is, inviting relatives and friends to have lunch or dinner, and then watching programs to welcome the gods. In the past, there were many others. Children's favorite thing is to follow the team to be "leaders" (simply speaking, they are in charge of God's meeting, and there are several "leaders" every year-big head and second head ... After one year, big head retires from the position of top leader, and second head is big head, and so on. ) come and wait for candy. In some places in Putian, when the procession to greet the gods passes by their door, they take out the iron pot for cooking and "rake" the ash in the pot with a hoe (which means "grinding" in Puxian dialect). At this time, the whole village is full of the sound of "counting inspection", which means to exorcise evil spirits and accept happiness. It is said that this custom was in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, when a young couple lived outside. Because the procession to greet the gods in the Lantern Festival passed by the door where they lived, they had no money to buy firecrackers to pick up the car, so they had to use firecrackers to fill the noise made by the harrow pot to show their piety. Over the years, their family business has become bigger and bigger, and their population has become more and more prosperous. This is because the sound of the rake pan touched the gods and gave them blessings, so the rake pan in Yuanxiao was regarded as an auspicious move and widely circulated.